"Jesus answered them: The hour has come when the Son of
Man must be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, if the grain of
wheat which has fallen into the ground does not die, it remains
alone; but, if it dies, it bears much fruit… And when I
have been lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men to myself.
In speaking thus, He was indicating by what means he was to die"
(John 12:23-24, 32-33).

The hour had come for Jesus to be glorified, and He used the
metaphor of the grain of wheat to teach His disciples about glory.
As the grain of wheat dies to produce many ears and hundreds of
grains, the Son of Man Himself must also die to multiply and bear
much fruit. The glory of the grain of wheat is in its death for
this is going to produce a lot of fruit. Likewise the glory of
Jesus is in His death for this is going to give eternal life to a
lot of souls.

The grain of wheat has probably not chosen the ground in which it
has been sown, but it dies to produce fruit when the conditions
become favourable. God the Father has chosen to send His Son, that
is to say to sow Him on the earth, and Jesus Himself chose to die
lifted up on the cross in order to draw all men to Himself (John
12:32-33). Therefore Jesus has been glorified by offering His life
on the cross to overcome Satan and to bring salvation to all men.

Isaiah saw Jesus glorified, seated on the throne and seraphim
proclaiming, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God of Hosts!
The whole earth is full of His glory!" (Isaiah 6:1-3,
John 12:41). But because of his iniquity, Isaiah had to be
purified by an angel before becoming God’s spokesman to
announce the time of Jesus' Coming (Isaiah 6:9-13). We ourselves
must be purified to announce "The good news of the glory
of Christ, who is the image of God" (2 Corinthians 4:4).

Like
Isaiah we can say, "Here I am, send me!", and
Jesus said to the one who wants to serve Him (by proclaiming the
Gospel), "Let him follow Me! And where I am, there also
will My servant be; and if any one serves Me, the Father will
honour him" (John 12:25-26). Jesus therefore asks us to
take the same path as Him, that is to die to ourselves in order to
be with Christ in heavenly places (Ephesians 2:4-7). And it is in
this way that we will be like vessels of honour to proclaim the
Good News of the Glory of Christ (2 Timothy 2:21)!